One of the countries which came out of our two oldest children’s mouths in unison was Italy. We asked them in the beginning of the year, which countries they wanted to visit in Europe in the summer. If we have their approval, this could be the best road trip in Italy with teens.

Why Italy?

I was wondering about that too? Why would my teens want to go to Italy? Is it the pizza? The ancient buildings, the beaches…just because Italy is so old?

It was actually all of the above. Our oldest was interested in Rome and our middle one wanted to try real Italian pizza and pasta. Our youngest was interested how people talk. At the end of our road trip, she said ”bongiorno” and ”grazie” to the store clerks.

For us it was the environment, the people, the weather and the history. Even though I think it would be amazing to stay in one place for a longer time, to really visit the churches and museums, it’s not the reality in a teenager’s brain, unless they really want to see it of course.

I think, if the kids wanted to learn more about the history of a country, a city or town, I would’ve researched these places more. For example, we spontaneous visited Assisi, which is actually a beautiful town, with an interesting history. If I knew this before our visit, I would’ve read about it and talked to the kids about it, while walking through the steep streets of Assisi.

Road trip planning

We started our trip in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. From there we drove, after a short visit at my parents place in the South of the Netherlands, to Paris. As I mentioned in ”What teens definitely need to do and see in Paris”, I asked our kids, what they wanted to see and do in Europe.

Italy was the country we spent the most time in. And because it was my parents’ 50th anniversary this year and my mom LOVES the Tuscany, my brother and I decided we could be together for a week in Tuscany in an agriturismo B&B. That was the only thing we actually planned during this road trip.

So, we needed to plan our trip around that week.

Our Road Trip in Italy itinerary

After we crossed the border from France to Italy, we went to Cinque Terre and stayed in La Grazie for one night. The trip went on to Venice. We stayed there for 3 nights. Also because our youngest got sick (heat).

After that, we traveled south to Faenza and stayed in a hotel. On our way to Sperlonga on the east coast, we visited Assisi for a quick lunch a walk in the town.

In Sperlonga we stayed 3 nights and dad and the teens made a trip to Rome. It was too hot for M, so I stayed with her in our apartment. I got some time to work on my Travel Journal. We ended our stay in Italy in the Tuscany, in a small place called Calci, which was close to the beach, Pisa, Lucca and Florence. Calci was the place where we stayed a week in an Agriturismo B&B. After this week, my parents and our family drove back to the Netherlands via Milan, Basel, Switzerland and Germany.

Transportation and our trip map

We looked at the different possibilities to travel through Europe. The train could be cheaper and more relaxed, but you cannot get to smaller places, like Assisi. We ended up using my parents old car, which was small, but it worked just fine. Most of our clothes and stuff, fit in back packs and sports bags and were easier to pack in the trunk of the car.

In Cinque Terre we traveled by boat, in Venice, we used a tram and water taxi, in Assisi we walked and from Sperlonga to Rome we took a train. Public transportation was not expensive.

Where to stay?

As I mentioned before, the only place to stay, we actually reserved beforehand, was the week in Calci. Mainly because my parents insisted, but also because the group was so big (6 adults, 6 kids) and we had some requirements: My parents room should have air conditioning, which is btw not a common thing in Europe. We needed a swimming pool for the kids….and us! We were going to be in Italy in the month of August and that means, it’ll be super hot!

On our way through Italy, traveling with only the 5 of us, we kept it simple and spontaneous. We checked in with ourselves and the kids, how everyone was doing. We made last minute changes and found hotels through Hotwire or Booking.com quick and easy.

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Be sure that you know, the hotel rooms in Europe are per person and not per room. For a one night stay and a family of 4, Hotwire works great. It won’t let you book one room for more than 4 people. Then Booking.com works great, because they even show you small apartments with kitchenette, washing machine etc.

What to do with teens in Italy?

Cinque Terre

This was my husbands idea. He heard from so many people to go and see these 5 small colorful towns build on high cliffs.

Cinque Terre is on the coast in the north west of Italy. There are several ways to get there. You can drive by car (and then walk), by train or by boat. We opted for the boat. From Portovenere, which is btw a fun little town as well, we took the boat to Vernazza, which is, according to a guide on the boat, the best town to visit.

The views from the boat are fantastic. I want to come back in the evening! The Golden Hour, while the sun is setting, can be amazing for photos!

Our teens loved swimming near the cliffs and jumping into the water. Exploring this little town with its steep and narrow stairs in between the houses, was a great adventure!

My kids loved the little stores with sometimes unusual souvenirs. And of course we tried focaccia for lunch. Our tip: Don’t go in the middle of the summer to explore this place. It’s too crowded and too hot! More tips for a get away in Cinque Terre you can find here.

Venice

From Cinque Terre to Venice is about a 4 hour drive. On our way there we made reservations in a hotel a little outside of Venice, in Mestre.

The Elite Hotel was very nice and we even had the opportunity to use a washing machine in the room. The breakfast buffet was outstanding and on walking distance was a grocery store for lunch and dinner. We stayed here for 3 nights. Unfortunately our youngest got sick (heatstroke) and we split up in groups to explore Venice.

A block away from our hotel was a tram. Public transportation in Italy required masks (oh boy, Italians can yell!!). From the final station in Venice, it was an easy walk to the water taxi. Be sure to get line 1, which brings you through Canal Grande to several stops, like St. Mark’s square and Lido beach. Don’t take #6. It’ll take you through industrial area’s, as my husband and oldest experienced the hard way!

And again, if it wasn’t this hot, I would have explored more of the city by foot. The kids wanted ice cream and a souvenir, make pictures and head back to the hotel for a cool shower.

Here the top 25 of best things to do in Venice.

Faenza

This town has a fun story for me personally and I was so glad our family made this visit, because it turned out to be one of the most amazing ”non-touristic” experiences we had during our trip.

My parents have Italian friends since the 60’s. Now they have children and grand-children. One of the kids has a famous pizzeria in Faenza and there is a bakery which belongs to the family as well. I got the telephone number from my dad and I called to make a reservation at the pizzeria. Around lunch time we visited the bakery. It turned out that my dad already contacted them and they knew we were coming.

We were all going to the pizzeria that evening. Ten people in total. The (older) friends of my parents couldn’t speak English, but the younger generation did. We even Face-Timed with my parents. It was very emotional!

But honestly….I’ve never had pizza like that in my entire life. It was light and yummy, made of a sour dough like pizza dough. Just amazing!

After our dinner, the older generation went home by bike (?!) and the rest showed us around in Faenza, where they had a weekly festival with hand made goods, music, games in the center of Faenza.

We promised to stay in touch! It was an unforgettable Italian experience for us, but definitely for our teens.

Assisi

From Faenza to Rome, we stopped briefly at a famous little town, called Assisi. The town by itself is impressive to look at, with its huge “Basilica di San Francesco” on the side of a mountain. Several Roman remains can be found here, like the city walls, a theatre, amphitheater, church of Santa Maria etc.

But Assisi is best known for St. Francis, for many people a pilgrimage. There are a lot of different churches in Assisi and walking your way up in the small old town, you’ll see tons of religious murals, trinkets and other souvenirs.

We just had a light lunch, but there are a huge amount of different restaurants with great food and don’t forget the wine!

Sperlonga

We finally arrived in Sperlonga. This was a spontaneous choice. Our youngest was still not feeling well after the heat stroke in Cinque Terre and Venice, so we were looking for something that was close to the beach, but also close to Rome. Our teens wanted to see Rome!

My husband looked up where the best beach was near Rome. A lot of places closer to Rome were booked or super expensive. Luckily we found this amazing apartment (with air conditioning and a washing machine) close to the beach (free parking place and 2 beach chairs plus umbrella) near Sperlonga. Rome was still 2 hours away. Hello, day trip!!!

We stayed 3 nights. One day was a beach day, one day was a rest day and one day my husband went to Rome with the two teenagers. I stayed at the apartment with our youngest. It was just too hot!

Rome

My husband wasn’t really prepared to go sightseeing. I was hoping they would see more than the Colosseum only. He’s not a planner and does things spontaneously.

For this city and others too (like Verona and Naples for example) I’d like to go back and visit when the weather is more in the 70’s instead of the 100’s.

Mama Loves Romehas a beautiful blog post about what you can do in Rome with teens!

Pisa

The time has come that we meet my parents and my brother with his family in the Tuscany. The little town Calci is located between Pisa and Lucca. The popular places to stay, at in this area are called “agriturismo”. My brother explored this area of Italy several times, so he picked out a place, close to the beach and some famous cities. Also a swimming pool was needed.

According to my brother, the cities of Pisa and Lucca are not that interesting for kids to stay for a whole day. You can stay in each city for half a day and that should be enough. I wasn’t so convinced, but we can explore more another time!

For a big group of 12 we decided to park the car, which wasn’t easy, as close as we could to the ”Leaning tower of Pisa”. There were a good amount of tourists making photo’s of the tower, in weird ways, if you don’t know what they were doing. People pinching their index and thumbs in the air, or standing on smaller post and making a push motion. It was time to get some ice cream!

Besides getting some tacky souvenirs near the ”Leaning Tower of Pisa” you can be done within a half day. Even though this town (not really a city) has so much history. If you’re interested in taking a day trip to Pisa, read the blog post by The BrokeBackPacker about what to do in Pisa.

Lucca

The other half of the day you can drive over to Lucca. This town, has also a lot of history. The fun thing about Lucca is, that the city center is build within a huge stone wall. And what fun thing to do with a group of 12 people? Biking on the wall with 3 four-seater surreys! Half way through we parked the bikes and walked into town to have a drink on one of the cute terraces.

Learning Escapes gives you a few more ideas when you want to visit Lucca.

Florence

Florence is bigger than Pisa or Lucca. From where we stayed, this was a day trip for us. We walked through the narrow streets and visited the ”Mercato di Sant’ Ambrogio” first. A small indoor market connected with an outdoor market.

The ”Church of Santa Croce” was a beautiful building and located at the Piazza Santa Croce”.

From there we walked to the ”Piazza Signoria” where a huge statue was from David by Michelangelo.

The “Brunelleschi Duomo” was impressive with all the detailed paintings and carvings.

And of course “Ponte Vecchio” with its beautiful and colorful little stores on a bridge.

In general, it was again too hot. We walked from one shaded spot to the other. This was the city my parents choose not to visit this time, because of the heat. I would definitely want to come back and look into the history of this city way more. Just the Ponte Vecchio is so old and interesting.

More information about things to do in Italy and in this case, Florence you can read at Mom In Italy.

Milan

Our time in Italy is almost over. One more night in Milan! We dropped of my husband and our oldest at the train station to travel to Switzerland, where they would meet friends.

I was surprised that the city was not as crowded as I thought it would be. Maybe because it was on a Saturday? We parked the car close to the train station and ate lunch at Pianeta Luna. Very good pizza!!!

The train station was huge and it felt like it was in the middle of the city. We were on our way to the Netherlands, so there was no time to explore this city. Another reason to come back soon.

Looking for more activities to do in Milan with teenagers? Read more at Dorchester Collection.

There is more ideas to add to your bucket list!

Verona, Naples and hiking in the Dolomites are definitely worth checking out with teens.

Think of boating, swimming and cycling in northern Italy (Garda Lake), food tours and exploring archeological sites. Mama Loves Italy has more ideas for you on your road trip through Italy with teens.